Does spelling leave you embarrassed ?

[Northie]

Misspelling is persistent ! Almost chronic and lasting issue in teaching and learning!
Students and learners in general "misspell" words, and even some teachers of English do misspell..., especially words known as " most often misspelled words in English". Here's an article and a couple of links on this issue

Fed up with his students' complete inability to spell common English correctly, a British academic has suggested it may be time to accept "variant spellings" as legitimate.

Rather than grammarians getting in a huff about "argument" being spelled "arguement" or "opportunity" as "opertunity," why not accept anything that's phonetically (fonetickly anyone?) correct as long as it can be understood?

"Instead of complaining about the state of the education system as we correct the same mistakes year after year, I've got a better idea," Ken Smith, a criminology lecturer at Bucks New University, wrote in the Times Higher Education Supplement.

"University teachers should simply accept as variant spelling those words our students most commonly misspell."

To kickstart his proposal, Smith suggested 10 common misspellings that should immediately be accepted into the pantheon of variants, including "ignor," "occured," "thier," "truely," "speach" and "twelth" (it should be "twelfth").

Then of course there are words like "misspelt" (often spelled "mispelt"), not to mention "varient," a commonly used variant of "variant."

And that doesn't even begin to delve into all the problems English people have with words that use the letters "i" and "e" together, like weird, seize, leisure, foreign and neighbor
The rhyme "i before e except after c" may be on the lips of every schoolchild in Britain, but that doesn't mean they remember the rule by the time they get to university.

Of course, such proposals have been made in the past. The advent of text messaging turned many students into spelling neanderthals as phrases such as "wot r u doin 2nite?" became socially, if not academically, acceptable.

Despite Smith's suggestion, language mavens are unconvinced. John Simpson, the chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, says rules are rules and they are there for good reason.

"There are enormous advantages in having a coherent system of spelling," he told the Times newspaper.

"It makes it easier to communicate. Maybe during a learning phase there is some scope for error, but I would hope that by the time people get to university they have learnt to spell."

Yet even some of Britain's greatest wordsmiths have acknowledged it's a language with irritating quirkiness.

Playwright George Bernard Shaw was fond of pointing out that the word "ghoti" could just as well be pronounced "fish" if you followed common pronunciation: 'gh' as in "tough," 'o' as in "women" and 'ti' as in "nation."

And he was a playright:)

Reuters

100 Most Often Misspelled Words in English
http://www.yourdictionary.com/library/misspelled.html


PLAY and PRACTISE with SPELLING BEE

http://www.timesspellingbee.co.uk

[M.o_o.N]

Northie

Good for you brother

Mis-spell-ing is not just a problem for us as a second language speakers , even native got that problem .

Thanks alot for posting such a topic :)

[Northie]

Northie

Good for you brother

Mis-spell-ing is not just a problem for us as a second language speakers , even native got that problem .

Thanks alot for posting such a topic :)

I totally agree with you sis Renoa
It happens quite a lot when a native speaker asks someone he's talking to about how to spell a certain word

Check this :
Some English native speakers' mistakes
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/vivian....akesNative.htm

It is true that spelling is a common problem both for native and non-native speakers. This, as a rule, becomes a widely spread reason why people dislike writing. However, it does not and can't mean that we need to take it for granted and do nothing with language learners to improve the situation. I strongly believe that spelling, as any other language 'skill' has to be given our thorough attention to.

Otherwise, if learners realise that spelling is not important, the fact itself that there are things in language which you may skip or which aren't worth spending time on, may result to wrong perception of the language learning process generally

And these two:

http://www.saudienglish.net/vb/showt...630#post787630

http://www.yourdictionary.com/esl/Teaching-Spelling-Strategies-to-ESL-Students.html[/URL

]

[البـارع]

thanks a lot dear bro
we all suffer in that

you gave valuable steps and information
very useful

regards

[moonlight2006]

شكرا جزيلا على المعلومات والروابط
الله يعطيك العافية

[Northie]

البارع
moonlight2006


Thx for your kind words...and here are some other basic English spelling rules ...

)1. SPELLING RULES FOR THE PRESENT PROGRESSIVE TENSE

a.) Add –ing to the base form of the verb.
read reading stand standing jump jumping

b.) If a verb ends in a silent –e, drop the final -e and add –ing.
leave leaving take taking receive receiving

c.) In a one-syllable word, if the last three letters are consonant-vowel-consonant combination (CVC), double
the last consonant before adding –ing.
sit sitting run running hop hopping

However, do not double the last consonant in word that end in w, x, or y.
sew sewing fix fixing enjoy enjoying

d.) In words of two or more syllables that end in a consonant-vowel-consonant combination, double the last
consonant only if the last syllable is stressed.
admit admitting regret regretting

e.) If a verb ends in –ie, change the –ie to y before adding -ing.
die dying

2.) SPELLING RULES FOR THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

a.) Add –s for most verbs
work works buy buys ride rides return returns

b.) Add –es for words that end in –ch, -s , -sh, -x, or –z.
watch watches pass passes rush rushes relax relaxes buzz buzzes

c.) Change the –y to –i and add –es when the base form ends in a consonant +y.
study studies hurry hurries dry dries

Do not change the –y when the base form ends in a vowel +y. Add –s
play plays enjoy enjoys

d.) A few verbs have irregular forms.
be is do does go goes have has

3.) SPELLING RULES FOR SIMPLE PAST TENSE OF REGULAR VERBS

a.) If the verb ends in a consonant, add –ed.
return returned help helped cook cooked

b.) If the verb ends in –e, add –d.
live lived create created die died

c.) In one-syllable words, if the verb ends in a consonant-vowel-consonant combination (CVC), double the
last consonant and add -ed.
hop hopped rub rubbed

However, do not double one-syllable words ending in –w, -x, or –y.

bow bowed play played mix mixed

d.) In words of two or more syllables that end in consonant-vowel-consonant combination, double the last
consonant only if the last syllable is stressed.
prefer preferred (The last syllable is stressed) visit visited (The last syllable isn’t stressed)

e.) If the verb ends in a consonant, + y, change the -y to -i and –ed.
worry worried annoy annoyed

f.) If the verb ends in a vowel +y, add -ed. (Do not change the –y to –i.)
play played annoy annoyed

Exception: pay paid lay laid say said

4.) SPELLING RULES FOR THE COMPARATIVE (-ER) & SUPERLATIVES (-EST) ADJECTIVES

a.) Add –er to one-syllable adjectives to form the comparative. Add -est to one-syllable adjectives to form the superlative.
cheap cheaper cheapest bright brighter brightest

b.) If the adjective ends in –e, add –r or –st.
nice nicer nicest

c.) If the adjective ends in a consonant +y, change to y to i before you add –er or –est.
pretty prettier prettiest Exception: shy shyer shyest

d.) If the adjective ends in a consonant-vowel-consonant combination (CVC), double the final consonant
before adding –er or –est.
big bigger biggest

However, do not double the consonant in words ending in –w or –y.

slow slower slowest coy coyer coyest

5.) SPELLING RULES FOR ADVERBS

a.) Add –ly to the corresponding adjectives
nice nicely quiet quietly quick quickly beautiful beautifully

2. If the adjective ends in consonant +y, change the y to i before adding –ly
easy easily
3. If the adjective ends in –le, drop the -e and add –y.
possible possibly

However, do not drop the –e for other adjectives ending in –e.
extreme extremely Exception: true truly

d.) If the adjective ends in –ic, add -ally.
basic basically fantastic fantastically terrific terrifically

[بدر العاصمه]

gooooooooooooooooooooooood

[ACME]

Invaluable Information About Spelling

For Foreign learners

Thanks

.

[ملامح صوماليه]

[Northie]

Thanks for replying :)

[جاكوار2]

[Petunia]

thank you brother


they are very useful steps to follow in order to avoid mistakes in spelling

may Allah reward your work

[Northie]

جاكوار2
pink-pen

Many thanks to both of you for replying :)

[N teacher]

Thanks bro

[Pr!ncess#89#]

Oooh my dear .. spelling big problem

ThanX so much 4 your effort

good topic ,, great job

may Allah bless u

[Northie]

N teacher
Pr!ncess#89#

Thanks for replying :)